House Party
by Motherofryan
Summary: Chick Lit - "House Party" tells the story of 4 uni friends trying life after graduation. First piece of fic! Please R & R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_"It was going to be massive, too massive, so I stopped, changed my mind, and now it's just the four of us.  
Hope you can come, you will be letting the side down if you don't.  
__See you soon,  
__love Anna."_

As the train hurtled towards Bristol, Paula re-read this missive, and smiled to herself; life with Anna was never too massive. The two girls had met at university, and shared an instant bond, that had never wavered through many a night of drunken revelry.

When Paula Kirkbright first started at college in Wales, she was introvert and shy, yet three years in the company of Anna Miller, an attractive blonde with a personality that knew no bounds and Paula had developed into a confident, gregarious young lady. The friendship between the two girls was very evenly balanced. Perhaps without Anna, Paula would have got into no trouble at all, yet without Paula, Anna would have gotten into a whole heap more; though at times, it seemed they were both as bad as one another. Coming from a small town as she did, going to visit the big city of Bristol was a new experience for Paula, and she intended to savor the metropolis. Anna's parents had taken their holiday at a very opportune moment for Anna, as her own flat was being redecorated, so she was house-sitting, and - as she said, it also meant that Brenda, the Miller's cleaner would have a big part to play in the aftermath of the party.

The train hurtled on, and Paula smiled to herself, to the astonishment of the young man sitting opposite her in the carriage. He had attempted to break into conversation once or twice, but she had politely discouraged him. Some old habits die hard, and her mother had always warned her about talking to strangers, putting her head back on bus seat covers, in case of nits, and how only prostitutes wore ankle bracelets! Paula had learned, throughout the years that she had spent meeting her friends, and more importantly, new or prospective boyfriends, at the bottom of her road, that to leave the house without a clean hankie was immediate social death. God forbid, should you be run over, and your knickers were more than an hour old. You might as well give up the ghost, and stop breathing before the ambulance reached you.

As a result of the reminders that had haunted Paula up until she went away for three years, Paula was now oblivious to the admiring glances he kept sending her way. Gently massaging the back of her neck which had developed a crick as a result of her not putting it back on the chair rest, Paula was lost in a tide of memories from university. The four girls had shared a house together; herself, Anna, and the remaining two members of the house party, Helen Slater, a Mancunian, with an accent you could cut with a knife, and finally Tara Macneice. Tara was someone very grand in Scotland; her father owned a shooting lodge in the Highlands, and with town houses in Inverness and Edinbrough, she should have been below talking to people like Paula, let alone living with them, or so Paula had though at first. The truth of it was very different. Tara was one of the most down-to-earth, genuine people Paula had met, and whilst she did not object to using her connections to help her friends, she did not shout about her social position to all and sundry, she tried to keep it under wraps as much as possible. The four girls had lived together for three years, and this would be the first occasion they all had to catch up again.

Paula grew slowly aware that the landscape outside was no longer rushing past the window at 100mph, but had actually been sat still for a couple of minutes, and the carriage was empty apart from herself. "Shit," she swore to herself, "shit, shit shit," as she banged her legs on the seat corner, and scraped her knuckles between the table and her case. Paula jumped down onto the platform and went flying into the back of the young man who had sat opposite her all the way from Manchester.

"Are you all right," he asked, confronting the flustered, tall, leggy brunette before him, "Can I do anything to help?"

"Hell," snapped Paula, "Couldn't you move away from the doors, that's how accidents happen, you know!"

"Glad to see you two made friends on the train, it will make things easier later if you two already know each other. Hello Paula, Hi Jack."

Paula whirled round to find Anna stood behind her, arms open and a huge beam on her face, Paula laughed in relief, and walked forward into Anna's arms.

"How long were you stood there?" She asked, sotto voice," Why didn't you stop me?"

"What, and spoil the fun, no way." laughed Anna, "the look on your face, when I said 'Hi Jack' was priceless."

Paula pulled away from Anna and slowly turned round, ready to apologize to Jack, but he had gone, and she just caught a glance of him, as he stepped inside the taxi he had just hailed. As the cab pulled away he smiled at her, and her cheeks flushed. As Anna picked up her case, and started chattering about the forthcoming weekend, Paula resolved to put the event out of her mind. Surely he can't be a very good friend of Anna's, or he would have stayed and talked. Perhaps she wouldn't see him at all over the weekend; she certainly hoped that this was the case, and with this in mind, she turned her attention back to Anna.

"Tara will be coming up later on, she had to stay and greet some Americans for her father, and so she will drive up when they have finished all the murdering." Paula laughed at Anna's description of Mr. Macneice's shooting weekend, but knew that however much Anna slated Tara, they were close really, and Anna had a lot to thank Tara for. In the first year at University, Tara bailed Anna out, when Anna got caught up with a drug dealer at the Union bar. The police were not involved, but only due to Tara's considerable influence with the president of the union, (he was besotted with her), and so she managed to keep Anna's name separate from the event. The whole thing came as something of a shock to Anna who did not even know that Jason was taking drugs, let alone selling them.

"…And Helen is already here, well she is at the house helping Bren bake a mountain of food to keep us going for the weekend. Bren has promised to stay away until Sunday, and although I can now cook for myself - or at least phone for a pizza - she still maintains that I am unable to look after myself for longer than a day, without having a major catastrophe."

Whilst Anna was talking she had been loading Paula's bags into her bright green mini, her trademark car, and the two of them were now weaving through rush-hour traffic back to Anna's parent's town house.

"So just how massive is it going to be then?" asked Paula, "what are we doing tonight, if the party is tomorrow night?"

"Well, we will take it steady tonight, I think. We might take in a club or so, but other than that, I should imagine it would be fairly quiet, getting ready for tomorrow. Perhaps we might go and see some friends of mine, whom I think you will all like; in fact I'm hoping Helen will like one of them. She still seems really cut up about Ed, and perhaps this will take her mind of it, stop her brooding."

"Well, can you blame her," interrupted Paula, "It was a three year relationship that he broke off, because he was bored with her; that kind of thing is bound to mess a girl up a bit. Anyway, I have something to tell you about that, something I overheard Ed telling Mickey, but I don't know whether to tell Helen or not.

"Apparently, he had been seeing someone else on and off for a while, and then she decided she wanted more from Ed than a casual fling, and so came down heavy on him."

"The bastard!" exclaimed Anna "After everything that girl did for him, the louse. Who is it, you do know don't you?"

Paula hesitated; whilst Anna was her best mate, she also had a voice like a fog-horn, and could be as subtle as the bright sunlight on the worst hangover, but Paula had also seen just how distressed Helen was when Ed had broken off the engagement, and felt she had to tell someone else what she had unwittingly discovered ages ago.

"Sarah Tonner."

"Scarer, that miserable, hard-faced bitch! She thought she could get away with murder. Once she finished with Mickey, it was every man for herself!" Anna's voice trailed off into disgusted silence, and Paula frowned, wishing too late that she had never brought the subject up. What with having a go at Anna's friend on the train, and now reminding Anna about her archrival, her holiday had not got off to a great start. She really needed this break too. Since she left university, her History degree had not yet brought about that all fulfilling dream job, that her granddad had always promised it would, and she was currently trying to make ends meet working in bars and pubs, and had only just managed to get the time off, by working twelve hour shifts for the last three days, to make up her times at various different places.

The rest of the ten-minute journey was done in silence, each of the girls deep in their own thoughts. Anna was trying to work out the best way to casually invite the lads round; and Paula was trying to decide whether or not to tell Helen about Ed. Helen Slater was the least outgoing out of the four girls, affectionately known to her closest friends as "plain Jane, super-brain!" yet what she lacked in beauty, she more than made up for in brains. Helen had the enviable ability to become totally enthralled in her books and work, a fact which was considerably abused by the rest of the household as they brought parties, or men, or both home after the bars had closed. After cranking the music right up to window rattling volume, the parties had a tendency only to stop when the floor space lessened as more comatose bodies slid off the 70's retro leather sofa and landed amidst the ashtrays, empty Bud bottles and general paraphernalia that had become part of the design of the carpet.

A short girl, with big glasses that were usually perched on the end of her nose, which she spent perpetually pushing them back up her face in frustration, Helen had first met Ed at a charity fancy dress night in the union bar. Helen had gone dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and Ed had been playing rugby earlier that day. He spent the night following her round, quoting lines from the film, at her, until eventually, to shut him up as much as anything, she let him buy her a drink. However, it took a lot more than quotes for her to finally believe that the big, popular, handsome rugby player had anything more than a passing interest in her, and so steadfastly alluded his efforts to get to know her better. Ed was obstinate however, and refused to leave her alone, until she had agreed to go out for one drink with her. They quickly became an item, and Helen was in a permanent state of euphoria, constantly looking at Ed as if to reassure her that this man, who could have had his pick from any of the beauty's at Uni, had picked her, the plain-Jane superbrain of their class. When they broke up, it had broken Helen's heart, not only was he the man whom she had given her virginity to, but he had also asked her to marry him, and they had been out to look for rings. When he announced out of the blue that he thought it was all getting to heavy, and that they should perhaps cool down for a little while, Helen was devastated, but when two weeks later he said that he had thought long and hard about it all, and thought it was best if it ended there, because the trial separation had given him enough chance to see that he was bored with the relationship, Helen had taken it very badly indeed, and now Paula was worried that a further shock like this, would finish off her self-confidence altogether. When Helen had come home, absolutely pissed out of her head, Anna had volunteered to go round and hack of his balls and use them as a pair of 'fuck-me earrings'.

For a while, Paula was dating Ed's best friend and fellow rugby player, Mickey, and Helen and Paula would often go and stand outside in the freezing cold to watch a match. Whilst the actual physics of the game had meant little to Paula, Helen had cared enough for Ed to try and understand the rules, and ergo was now as proficient to talk about converting try's and the scrum half's prop as Jonny Wilkinson! When Mickey and Paula broke up, after just six weeks, so did her interest in rugby, and it was with a big sigh of relief that she could go back to her pre-Mickey habit of lying in bed with Tara and Anna and watching children's cartoons on the television on a Saturday morning.

As the car ground to a halt outside Anna's sumptuous home, the two friends smiled at each other.

"Thanks for arranging all this, Annie, its going to be a whirl."

"You betcha it is," Anna promised, "now come in and see the others, or they will think I've kidnapped you."

As Anna helped Paula carry her bags through into the Miller's hall, they smiled at each other. Out of the four girls it was these two who had connected immediately.

"It is good to see you again Annie," smiled Paula, "I didn't think I would miss everyone this much."

No sooner had she spoken then Helen came out to give Paula a hug and welcome, closely followed by the Millers mad Scottie dog, Rufus. Wrapped in a huge apron, Helen's eyes were bright behind her thick lenses, and Paula could smell the delicious smells coming from the direction of the kitchen.

"Brenda has been showing me how to make cheese straws, they smell lovely, but I can't guarantee how good they will be at the other end of the process."

"I'm sure they will be lovely Hel," said Paula "Now is there anyone here who can offer a jet-lagged girl a fag?" Anna laughed as she took Paula through into the conservatory, offering her a silk-cut and a large Jack Daniel's, both of which Paula accepted gratefully.

"Bloody no smoking trains, I've been waiting for this since I got on at York."

Paula smiled at Anna and Helen, who had followed them through, and waved her glass in the air. "I'd like to propose a toast; that this weekend goes off with a bang!"

As she spoke, there was a rapping in the window in the conservatory, and a Scottish voice could be heard issuing instructions to a chauffeur about where to put the Luis Vitton bags and cases that Tara never traveled anywhere without. As Anna organized the welcoming committee, Paula poured a drink for Tara, Gin and lime, her favourite drink, and her thoughts went back to Jack. She had been unnaturally rude to him, and although flustered from the long journey and lack of nicotine, it was still very out of character. Looking back, she realised just how nice his last smile had been, the way his eyes had crinkled at the corners, and all of a sudden she found herself hoping that perhaps he was a good friend of Anna's, and that he may just turn up sometime over the weekend. She was glad now that she had brought that dress that her mother had tried to dissuade her from.

As she turned round to greet Tara, who was complaining bitterly about the fact that her car had broken down, again, Paula smiled. This weekend was still going to be massive, with a bit of luck.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The four girls quickly settled back into each other's company, and were soon half way down the second bottle of wine, and all laughing hysterically over some shared moment of the past three years. Brenda had been through a couple of times with plates of sandwiches and bowls of nibbles, but the girls had been more interested in catching up with all the gossip, rather than eating, and as a result were all rather the worse for wear. When Anna finally stopped laughing enough to glance at her watch, she exclaimed loudly. At this rate they would just have enough time to all get ready, and Tara was famed for having the ability to spend the longest time in the Bathroom.

"Where are we headed tonight Anna?" asked Helen, "What's the dress code, casual or clubby?"

"There's a new wine bar opened in town," replied Anna, "and so I thought we could start there, and then just work our way round."

As Paula stubbed out the end of her cigarette, she remembered how the four of them had always got on so easily, and knew that with not a lot of pushing on her part, this could easily become a weekend to remember.

The four girls hit the town and left their mark. They had always made a striking group, Tara's blonde coolness was in stark contrast to Anna's shorter, dark haired frame; and Paula was tall next to Helen's small, structure. Heads turned as the group entered H2O's, the wine-bar that was still new enough to have a carpet that you did not stick too. As they sauntered through the door, mostly oblivious to the admiring glances, Anna linked arms with Paula, "I'm so glad you could make it Paulie, I've really missed you."

As Paula smiled back at Anna, she realised how much she had gone through with all of these people, but Anna in particular. Three years was a long time to share each other's lives.

As they sat and giggled over past misdemeanors, Paula thought about what she was going to do with herself. Seeing the others had brought it all back to her, Anna nearly always had men-friends, and Tara had been practically engaged at birth to her father's best friend's son Iain. Helen of course was still getting over Ed, although Anna was hatching some wild plans for the party for her; it seemed to Paula that since Mickey, her love life had been seriously lacking in … anything. She thought back to Jack in the train. How could she have been so rude to him, he had seemed really nice, and just because she had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts, and had nearly missed her stop, it was not his fault, she should not have taken it out on him. He was only trying to be nice, and besides he had had the most gorgeous arse!

"Hey, what are you thinking about? This is supposed to be an enjoyable experience." The crisp Scottish accent cut through Paula's thoughts and she turned to face Tara with a smile.

"I was just thinking about Uni." she lied. Not for anything would she admit to Miss Successful-At-Everything how she felt about men. As the night went on, Paula forgot her men problems, and got on with the more pressing business of getting drunk and reminiscing about old times. The night finished in a series of 'remember when…' and when the four girls left the club, Paula was in an altogether better frame of mind.

The chink of light shone through the windows of the spare room in which Paula had fallen into last night and slowly brought her round into consciousness. As she reluctantly dragged her weary body into the living room, still with her duvet wrapped round her like Hiawatha, it was to find Helen sat in front of the blank television screen staring into space with the remains of a Kleenex scrunched up in her hands. As Paula settled into the space on the settee beside her Helen smiled thickly, "has the hang-over kicked in then?"

"To be honest mate, I'm more worried about the lack of one," Paula joked, "the amount we put back last night, I should be in BRI now with a stomach pump. Those half-price cocktails were really a bad idea. Still, I always wondered what a Fluffy Navel would taste like, and now I know." She paused, hating herself for wittingly getting herself into a situation which could so easily ruin Anna's carefully planned weekend, but at the same time, she felt she owed it to Helen not to leave her in any doubt about Ed and his feelings for her.

"How do you feel today Hel, apart from the hang-over?"

As Paula asked the question which Helen had dreaded being asked, she slipped her arm around her friend and pulled her into the cocoon of the warm duvet. Helen shrugged, "Alright, I guess." And then before Paula could begin to say any more, Helen second-guessed her. "Look Paula, I now you're just trying to help but I don't want to think about Ed right now. I have done a whole heap of crying over him, even done some serious drinking, and now I want to try and get over it. Please don't tell me about anything to do with Ed, I just want to enjoy the four of us being together."

Paula smiled and nodded. Perhaps ignorance is bliss, she reminded herself. The photo album was still on the coffee table in front of her, and as she nudged it open with her foot she saw the photo of Helen and Ed, with herself and Mickey at one of the Home games in the rugby season. Despite everything, she and Mickey had shared some good times, and she missed the idea of not having anybody around. Perhaps a quiet word with Anna might be in order. She would surely know if there were any single good-looking men around, perhaps someone who had just recently come in off a train? With this thought in mind, she got up and went in the kitchen, in search of the morning after the night before food - a fry-up.

It was later that morning as the girls were sitting round in the front room, trying to decide an agenda for the day, when the doorbell rang. As Brenda answered it, Tara peeked through the curtains to see who was imposing on the slob session. "Hey Annie, who do you know who has a violet Skoda convertible with fluffy dice in the mirror?"

As the girls fell about laughing in walked Jack, "I hope you aren't laughing at my new car, that's my pride and joy!" Despite herself, Paula could not help but feel a quiver of anticipation. She had built him up, in her drunken stupor last night, as she lay in a waltzer-like bed, to be this dashing figure that would enter into her life on a white steed and ride off into the sunset. A violet Skoda was not quite what she had in mind, and yet even so, she found herself straightening her dog-hair infested skirt, quietly cursing Rufus as she did so, and running her tongue over her teeth, in case of lipstick smears. As Anna introduced everyone Paula blushed to think how rude she had been yesterday, but Jack just smiled at her "I think we've already met, haven't we?" Aware that he had just granted her a public pardon, she smiled back at him and nodded, "Yes I had come up from Middlesbrough, to meet Anna. Had you come from far?"

"I had some business to see to in Manchester," he answered. As he spoke, looking her directly and clearly in the eye, Paula was more than aware of Tara's astonishment. Though the two of them were close friends, Paula had always felt somewhat self-conscious beside what most people considered to be the most gorgeous thing to come out of Scotland since Ewan Magregor. It was always Tara who found the good-looking men, and Paula was usually left with the sad friend. This time however, Paula got a huge buzz to realise that despite her long-standing engagement to the infamous Iain, Tara was at this present moment looking as if she had recently licked something not very pleasant from a large stinging plant.

Anna waved a fag packet around the room, and Paula realised that Anna was probably the only female in the room that was not unnerved by Jack's presence. Helen was still very quiet around members of the opposite sex, despite, or perhaps because of the effect Ed had had on her, and the palpable animosity between herself and Tara could have been cut with a knife. However, Jack did not seem fazed by the undercurrents that were racing round the room faster than Lewis Hamilton at time trials. As he accepted the proffered cigarette, Jack smiled at the girls.

"So Annie is the rave still on tonight then, because I may be late, I've got to drop this beauty of at Weston."

"Oh, I've never been to Weston, is it nice Jack," asked Tara. She smiled at him, running her tongue over her lips as she did so, she had obviously decided seconds were out, reflected Paula.

As Jack pointed confusedly out of the window to the car, which was sat glaringly on the front drive, Tara glided up to him and took his arm as she discreetly but pointedly turned him away from Paula.

"You aren't going to miss the social event of the weekend are you? We have come all this way to see the sights, don't tell me your leaving, just as I've arrived?"

Anna pointedly raised her eyebrows at Paula before going in the kitchen put the kettle on. Paula followed her through and sat herself on the worktop next to the kettle.

"Why does she always make every other female feel two foot small? Paula asked, "Do you think she realizes she does it?"

"You always were too charitable towards that girl," replied Anna, "she knows damn fine what she does, she just can't help it. She is far too used to getting her own way, and while I would hate anything serious to happen to her, I sure would like to see her taken down a peg or two!"

As Paula carried the tea through into the front room, Jack stood up to take the tray off her. "So how come you waited all this time before bringing any of your uni friends here Anna, or were you worried that we would all dish the dirt on you?"

"Now Jack, I think they already know everything that they need to know, and I am too sober to start reflecting upon my many misdemeanors, so let's keep schtum, shall we?" Anna laughed as she sat down, "Jack and I have known each other since birth, our parents were at the same ante-natal classes, and so if there's any dirt-dishing to do, I think I can keep my hand in!"

As Paula drank her tea, she couldn't help but look at Jack's legs, as he stretched them out next to her, long and lean, muscley and firm, just perfect for wrapping them around…

"…So what do think then Paula?" Jack's voice broke into her reverie, and she realized that she did not have a clue what the question was, and she hoped her cheeks didn't look as red as they felt.

"Well, it depends really," she offered tentatively, "what do the rest of you think?"

"Well, I don't mind, I've been to Weston loads of times, but there's a shop in the center that sells some lovely clothes, that I wouldn't mind going to, Helen, what about you?"

"Oh, I don't mind, if the rest of you want to go, then I might stay here, and finish off getting things ready for the party."

"No you bloody well won't!" Anna said, "You'll go and get your coat on, and come to Weston with the rest of us. Now we won't all fit in the passion wagon out there, so I'll take my car as well, and meet you up there Jack, Helen you come with me, we might go round to Simon's house and see if he wants to come along as well, I haven't seen him since I came home, Paula and Tara, you go with Jack, but Jack, a word of warning, Paula gets car-sick unless she sits in the front." This bald lie was accompanied by a discreet wink in Paula's direction, and Anna went to get her coat. Paula followed her out, "What the hell did you have to say that for? Now he'll think I'm a right daft tart!"

Anna started to laugh, "Did you see the look on Tara's face, she had obviously been planning a cosy twosome and now Jack is so worried about the state of his newly valeted seat covers, he'll insist you have the front seat, it doesn't matter how much you tell him I was joking."

Paula reluctantly started to smile, "I suppose it is worth it just to see the great Lady Tara slumming it in the back," never mind being sat up front with Jack, she thought to herself, as she pulled her coat on.


	3. Chapter 3

As it was a lovely day, Jack left the top down, and Paula was unable to decide whether it was better to stay quiet and not swallow any flies, or to break up Tara's ceaseless monologue from the back seat. She had sat herself forward between the two seats, so that her chest rested on the edge of his seat, and every time he changed gear, he was forced to brush past it. Although Paula didn't drive, she did feel he was changing gear rather more than was strictly necessary, surely the brake was designed to slow the car, you didn't have to use the gears all the time did you?

"So who is Simon then?" Paula finally decided to brave the insect life,

"He's a mate of mine, we all went to the same school. He's a good mate, but he's having a real hard time of it at the moment, his girlfriend has just finished him."

Paula grimaced sympathetically, "Sounds like Helen, she's still really cut up about her break-up with Ed."

"Mmm, perhaps, but maybe you shouldn't mention it, Lisa left him for Toni!"

The way he emphasized the name made Paula think that Tony was obviously a wide-boy, and should be avoided at all costs, probably a real sleaze, who thinks he is God's gift; hey maybe she should introduce him to Tara, but before she could make the suggestion, a loud tooting from behind made her turn round in her seat to see what was happening. Anna's green mini was coming up behind them at a speed that would make Penelope Pitstop flinch, and sat in the back was a large bloke with floppy hair and an obviously recent broken nose.

"Not another rugby player" Paula groaned, "that's too much, even for Anna".

"What, oh the nose, no, that was, erm, an unfortunate accident with Toni" Jack said with a grin, "but please don't mention it, as you can imagine, he is rather sensitive about the whole episode".

As they reached the car park at Weston, Paula was feeling really windswept, and was thankful when Tara announced that she would have to find a Ladies to make repair work to her face. "A woman should always look her best, when she is trying on clothes, you know". And with this statement, she pulled Paula into the nearby café, leaving Jack to feed coins into the meter.

"Well, he's a bit of alright, isn't he, Annie kept him quiet, and how come he never ended up at the flat when we were at uni?" Tara flickered her newly mascara'd lashes at herself in the dusty mirror, before attacking them with her eyelash curlers "… and I think he likes me, you know he was looking at me in the rearview mirror the whole way down here". As she babbled on, Paula started to feel the familiar feel of rejection heading down to the pit of her stomach. Of course Jack would like Tara - she was gorgeous. But then again, she herself was no slouch in the looks department, and hadn't Tara an ego bigger than Robbie Willliams? Paula mentally shook herself, and pinched Tara's new Clinique lipstick, smiling to herself as she asked "How's Iain?"

Iain had come to stay over a few times at university, and all the girls liked him. He was a gentle giant of the Merchant Ivory tradition, who obviously doted on Tara, but was one of the few people, apart from her stepmother, (whom Tara referred to lovingly as step monster) who could actually make Tara toe the line.

"Oh, he's all right. I just wish he were a bit more exciting. He is still insisting that we wait until after the wedding before we sleep together, which I suppose is lovely, and really refreshing nowadays, but if only he knew how much time I am spending in Anne Summers, he would have a fit".

Paula laughed, "he just loves you, and wants everything to be right for you both, you should be honoured," she broke off as two ladies came through into the toilets. Paula waited while Tara gathered together her make-up collection, "So are you looking for anything special then?"

Paula smiled, "no, I bought a new dress before I came down here, that I can wear tonight. What about you?"

"There is a new dress in Paul Smith that is to die for, and at the bargain price of £249.99, I may have to treat myself. And perhaps some shoes to with it."

Paula rolled her eyes and laughed as they both re-entered the sunshine to find the others all stood around waiting for them.

"Are you all right Paula?" asked Jack, "I hope the drive down didn't make you too ill?"

"No, honest, I'm O.K. thanks" I'm going to kill you, she thought to herself, as out of the corner of her eye she could see Anna quickly turning her smothered laugh into a cough, and Helen and Tara looking at her quizzically.

"I didn't know you got travel-sick Paula," said Helen

"Paula have you met Simon" chipped in Anna, and before anyone could answer, she linked arms with Tara and Paula, and started to walk off in the direction of the shops leaving Helen no choice but to walk with Jack and Simon.

As the six of them walked in the direction of the shops, Paula felt as though they were reliving the halcyon days of uni, where everyone was relaxed, friendly, and apart from the workload that the course produced, there was little stress. Simon seemed nice, she could hear him and Jack chatting behind, and they were both making an effort to include Helen in the conversation, and surprise surprise, Helen was actually responding, although more to Jack than Simon, Paula noted with some trepidation. Anna and Tara were discussing the dress in Paul Smith, and arguing good-naturedly about the colour.

"It's 2 o'clock now," noted Anna, glancing down at her watch, "How about if we split up, and meet up again at five, that should give us enough time to get back home, get something to eat, and get ready for tonight, shouldn't it?" she asked Tara, who would probably take the longest time. The others all nodded their agreement. "Right then, Tara should you and I go and buy some clothes? What are the rest of you going to do, Helen?"

"Well, I thought I might go and have a look in WHSmiths, see if the new Terry Pratchett book has come out yet."

"Oh Helen," laughed Tara, "Don't they have any bookshops in Manchester then?"

"Hey, I'll come with you, if that's all right," said Simon, "I haven't got his new one yet."

"Well, I certainly don't want to go dress shopping, and I'm not into Terry Pratchett," laughed Jack. "What are we going to do Paula?"

WE…

"I don't mind. You're the local, you tell me what there is to do here."

"Well, we can just have a wander around, and see if we can find any good pubs."

Anna winked at Paula as they group split up, and the last thing Paula heard was Tara saying, "Lilac, with my eyes!"

"Welcome to Weston!" Jack stood on the prom and opened his arms wide to encompass the landscape. "Now you know why the locals refer to it as Weston-Super-Mud".

Paula laughed, "So did you used to come here a lot then?"

"When we were younger, the gang used to come here and stop over. Simon had a big dorma van, and we all just used to crash out on the beach if it was nice, or in the van. We always intended to go to Devon, or Cornwall, but somehow, we always ended up here. Jenny used to say that Weston had a strange magnetic pull for pissed-up students, and I think she was probably right."

As they walked along the prom, Paula felt at ease in Jack's company, but she wondered how Helen was getting on with Simon, and hoped that her friend was all right.

"_The Spread Eagle_, we used to come here all the time, to get bottles to bring back to the van," Jack broke into her thoughts, "it used to be a biker friendly pub, and was always full of aging Hells Angels wannabe's, but as long as there was no trouble, they were friendly enough. Some of the girls found it a bit intimidating though, so we never used to stay very long, just get the supplies, and then go back to the beach, where we would usually have a barbeque, and just generally chill out, before heading back home the next day."

"I know what you mean, we used to do something similar, when we were at uni, although we never found any Hells Angels, and I bet your barbeque wasn't a disposable one, bought from the nearest shop!

"Anna and I used to go out and get the stuff, because if Tara bought it, then nobody else could afford to buy any drink, because we would have to chip in so much money for the food. She never was any good at economic shopping."

Jack laughed. "Shall we go in then, do you want a drink?"

Jack got the drinks in, while Paula found a table. The pub was fairly busy, dealing with the last of the lunchtime trade, and Jack jostled his way back to the table with the drinks and a couple of bags of crisps between his teeth. "I thought we had better have these now, I don't know what Annie is planning to feed you all with before tonight, but knowing her, it could be anything or nothing, and it sounds as though tonight could get rather messy."

Paula gratefully accepted the crisps. She hadn't eaten anything since the fry-up at breakfast, and Jack could well be right about the food at teatime. When they were at university, both the girls had thought nothing of going all day on nothing more than a crisp sandwich, and then drinking all night, but Paula didn't think that she could carry it off any more.

They chatted easily with each other, putting the world to rights, and swapping stories. Jack worked in a garage. He had started out as a car valeter, and had worked his way up through the ranks, to be a sales assistant, and was hoping to finish up working in the management side of things.

"That's what the business was in Manchester," he explained, "I was enrolling on a business studies course, so that I can still work part time at the garage, but at the end, should be better qualified for a promotion. But will you do me a favour, don't mention it to Anna, I want to tell her myself, but later on, when I'm sure that things are working out. She is my best mate, but she is not really the most subtle of people, and is liable to make a big thing of it."

Paula agreed, then, catching sight of the time, gasped, "Do you realize we have been sat here for ages, the others will be waiting for us, and the only sight I have seen is the inside of this pub."

While they had been talking, the pub around them had emptied until there was only those two, another couple, and an old man, sat on a bar stool, with a black Labrador lying patiently at his feet.

Paula finished off her drink, and the pair of them left the pub, squinting slightly as they came out into the sunshine. After the dimly lit pub, the sun was bright in their eyes.

"I think this break is just what I needed," said Paula, as they walked back to where they had arranged to meet the others at the car park. "Work has been a nightmare recently, and I had to work so many extra shifts to get the time off, it was unbelievable."

"There they are, come on you two, we've been waiting ages!" The cry came from Tara who was sat with the others on a bench. Paula noted with some relief that Helen seemed to be o.k, in fact her and Simon looked like they were deep in conversation. Anna waved at them, and they hurried over to join the group.

"Did you get the dress then Tara?" Paula asked her friend, who held a Paul Smith bag up triumphantly.

"Yep, and just wait till you see it on, it's gorgeous. I can't wait till tonight, are we going now?"

"Yes, come on you lot, otherwise we will never be ready for the party. Just wait until you see what I have got for tonight." As Anna bustled everyone around, Jack held the door of the car open so that Tara could climb in the back, and this time, Anna made no effort to hide her grin as she caught sight of Tara's face.


	4. Chapter 4

"G'night Rob."

"Night Mr. Pearson."

As the majority of staff left the office, Rob smiled at the remaining few gathered round the table. "I won't keep you very long, but as you know, while Edward is away, he left me to make sure everything runs smoothly. So, if there are any problems, let me know straight away, and I will see what I can do to help. I don't want Edward coming back to find his business going down the pan!"

With this bald statement, he stood up and opened the door of the meeting room. "Right, ladies and gentlemen, I think we can call it a day and I will see you all bright and early in the morning."

As Rob moved back into his own office, he studiously ignored the comments coming from the other staff. Of course he didn't think they would send the business down the pan but he had waited a long time for this opportunity to show Edward Miller how well he could cope running a successful solicitors office, and he did not want anything to jeopardize his chance of becoming a partner.

His thoughts turned towards Anna, Edward's daughter. She was a nice girl, pretty, with a sense of humour, and there had been something between them at one stage, when Rob had first started with the firm, three years ago. Edward had mentioned about Anna's friends from university coming over while the Millers were away, and how he was sure Anna would be having a party. He had even joked about Rob handling any cases that emerged from the aftermath.

With the practiced ease of one who had worked many long evenings before going straight out, Rob stripped his shirt off, and after spraying himself with deodorant, pulled a clean shirt from the hanger on the back of his office door and slipped it on. It was a move he had seen Harrison Ford perform on _Working Girl_, and in the movie, there had been an office full of women watching and clapping appreciatively. Automatically, he turned round to see which of the office girls had watched him, only to find that the only person left in the office was Mrs. Morton, the office cleaner, and she had her back to his window, hoovering, and singing along to the office radio. Rob grinned ruefully at himself, and left his office.

As he got in the elevator, he thought back to the first time he had met Anna. Edward had brought home his new protégée for dinner, and Anna had come home from university half way through the meal. Rob recalled how Edward had jumped up to hug his daughter, and how glad she was to see both her parents. He remembered thinking at the time how different it had been to his family, his father would not have hugged his son, or even spoken informally to him, and his mother was usually too sedated to even register her son's presence. Rob had smiled at Anna, and as she was introduced to him, he had been so distracted, thinking about the differences in the families, he had merely shaken her hand, without realizing his aloofness. Anna had merely smiled and never gave any indication of how rude she found his manner.

The talk round the table had been about Anna and her friends at university, and Edward and Mary Miller were both keen to hear about their daughter's life, both socially and academically. At the end of the night, Anna had been telling her parents about a film she and Paula had seen at a revival night at the local fleapit, and how long it had been since she had been to the cinema, and as she said goodnight to him, Rob had told her if she ever was stuck for someone to go to the pictures with, he would be very happy to go along. Astonished, she politely thanked him, comparing the friendly man who had chatted to the family through dinner with the rude man who had greeted her.

Rob had phoned her one night, to mention that the new cinema were showing an old Gregory Peck season, and wondered if she would like to accompany him to see _To kill a mockingbird_ as she had mentioned at the dinner table that she had studied the text at college. Anna accepted and went along, as much out of curiosity as anything. To her surprise, the pair of them had a lovely evening, and it became a regular occurrence which inevitably led to the two of them dating for a while. They had spent most of the summer together, and even went away for a weekend to Blackpool. Unfortunately, Anna hadn't been the only girl that Rob was spending the summer with, and when she discovered him with the office temp, she broke the relationship off before she went back to university, and he hadn't heard from her again. Consequently, Rob didn't feel he could ask Edward for her details to contact her. He didn't know whether or not Edward knew the reason behind the break-up, although he thought not - however, he was on too much of a good thing at work to rock the boat; and the cases became more challenging, and more lucrative, and before long, he had forgotten about the dispute with Anna, and concentrated on his career. Of course, he still went out, and found women who wanted him. He would take them back to his new apartment, and in the morning he would throw away the piece of paper with their phone numbers on, and go to the office without a care in the world.

As the doors opened onto the office reception on the ground floor, Rob found himself remembering that weekend away with Anna. They had driven down in Anna's car, as Rob's had had to go into the garage for servicing. He had spent the whole journey with his long legs screwed up in the well of the passenger seat of Anna's mini despite the fact that his chair was pushed back as far as it would go; and when they got there, it had been pouring with rain, yet they had still walked all the way around the funfair, and queued to go on the roller coaster. They managed to get a room in a little bed and breakfast, and although the beds were single, and attached to the walls as cradles, they had shared one bed, and after making love, had slept together in each other's arms.

Rob defended himself as he walked out into the bright sunlight, he had never made any promises to Anna, and really, the office temp had been asking for it all along. Wearing deliberately provocative tops, and leaning over Rob's desks, asking him how he took it – "I mean your coffee, or course!" There had been a bet on in the office amongst some of the younger staff about who would be the first to shag her, a bet which Rob had won, and claimed - both the temp, and the money!

He had been very fond of Anna, and he knew that she had liked him a lot, yet at the time, he hadn't wanted a serious relationship. He had seen the way his parent's marriage was, and did not want to suddenly wake up and find himself twenty years down the line with a wife who spends most of her day in bed, so vague about her whereabouts that she is not fit to be left alone for so long; or indeed for himself to have turned into an old man, who can only bark orders at people rather than talking to them. When Anna had broken the relationship up, it had been almost a relief. He wouldn't have to think about the future again for a while, and could put the rapid deteriation of his parent's marriage out of his mind. He wouldn't be visiting them in the near future, as work was getting busy and there always seemed to be something to do on a weekend.

Rob had been halfway home, when he realized he had not thought about Anna properly for ages, and it would be nice to see her again, not to mention the fact that if it was a party, there were bound to be lots of women there, perhaps he should phone some of the lads, see if they fancy meeting him there. No, maybe he would test the waters first, he could always text his friends to come round, once he had been in there first, and seen how the land lay. With this in mind, Rob pulled the car around, and headed towards Anna's house, the other side of Bristol.

* * *

There was the expected good-natured banter about how long Tara was taking in the bathroom, as the girls prepared themselves for the party. After they had got back from Weston, and Jack had taken Simon home, both promising to come earlier than everyone else, to give Anna a hand with drinks and things, the four girls had made a start on the party preparations. Anna had bought a load of balloons and streamers while they were out, and Helen and Paula made a start on taking all the breakable and valuable ornaments upstairs into the Miller's bedroom, which would then be off limits to the partygoers. Anna had few house rules for her parties, but one of the few was that everyone stayed out of her parent's room.

"So did you get the book that you wanted then?"

"Yes thanks. I bought a couple of books actually, there was an offer on, so I got two, and Simon got the third one for half price."

Paula smiled to herself. "He looks nice."

"He's all right," Helen replied, "He's just split up with his long term girlfriend, so I know how he feels about things really. We just went around the town, and found a really nice pub, and grabbed a quick sandwich. He seems really upset about the breakup, but I supposed it is to be expected; after all, Toni did break his nose!"

"Who broke whose nose?" asked Tara, coming from the shower wrapped in towels, and leaving a trail of bubbles across the carpet, emanating Christian Dior. Helen declined to answer, merely claiming next in line for the shower.

When all the girls were finally ready, they congregated in the kitchen, finalizing the preparations for the party. Helen, in a pair of black trousers and a long sleeved top was checking the oven, ready to re-heat the mountains of cheese straws, mini pizza's, garlic breads, and other party food that Anna had deemed appropriate. Anna herself, in a pale blue Ghost dress that she confided to Paula had cost her the best part of a month's salary, but was worth every penny as it skimmed her curves and emphasized her bust, without making her look like a buxom wench - the type that Sid James leered after in the Carry On films. She and Paula were cutting lemons, locating corkscrews, and filling ice trays. With some hesitation, Paula had dressed in 'that dress', a beautiful twenties reproduction dress, which she had found languishing in a charity shop. As soon as she had seen it, she knew she would have to have it, even if she never got the opportunity to wear it; it was simply too beautiful to be left hanging on the shelf in that dusty corner. A deep red dress with a black lace layer over the top, it draped itself over her body and skirted her knees. She teamed it with a silver and jet necklace and long earrings. On some people, it would have looked ridiculous, yet the tall frame of Paula made it possible to look elegant, and yet almost decadent at the same time. Anna had come in while Paula was getting ready, and immediately volunteered to do her make up for her, claiming that Paula did not do enough to put herself forward. As a result of Anna's administrations, Paula's eyebrows had been plucked and shaped into a high arch, and her brows were coloured in a smoky grey, giving her a dark eyed exotic look. With the dress and her new look, she felt as though she was taking part in a costume drama, and although she felt a little apprehensive about the look, she knew when she looked in the mirror it had been worth it. It had all been definitely worth it when she caught sight of Tara's face as she came downstairs. Tara herself was dressed in the most beautiful, lilac creation, shimmering like a Grecian Goddess, Anna had remarked somewhat caustically that it was perhaps a tad over the top for a simple house party reunion, but Tara looked fabulous, there was no denying it. Even so, Tara was unable to resist asking who designed Paula's dress; merely raising one eyebrow on discovering it was a thrift shop bargain.

The doorbell rang, and as Anna moved across the room to open it, she looked at the other three and smiled,

"I declare this party open!"

Simon struggled through the door carrying a crate of lager and bags of crisps and dips, and Jack followed, with more lager, and a carrier bag full of clinking bottles.

"I told you we would be early Annie, give you a hand sorting things out." He came through the kitchen door with his back to the girls, as he put the crates and bags down on the worktops, before turning to greet the girls.

"Wow," he claimed to the four girls, "Bristol won't know what hit it, when it clocks a look at you lot, will it Si?" he nudged his mate, who looked at the girls and smiled nervously.

"Let me get you a drink before the masses come in", and Jack deftly opened the bottle of wine from the carrier bag, and poured four glasses out, while Simon popped open two beer bottles, and all six of them took a drink.

"Right," said Anna, "I think everything is ready," and she turned the music up on the stereo, as Prince's 1999 blared out Paula cringed. Anna always had bizarre taste in music, but she knew how to get a party going. The front door was held open, and the first guests had started to arrive.


End file.
